Stephen Orth - Couchsurfing in Iran - Revealing a Hidden World

VIENNA—HOPE OF Abreakthrough in the Iran nuclear talks: the P5+1 group and Iran are confident that the conflict, which has been smoldering for ten years, can be resolved by the summer. However, the joint statement of the Iranian minister of foreign affairs, Mohammad Javad Zarif, and the high representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy/vice-president of the European Commission, Catherine Ashton, warns that “there is a lot of hard work necessary to overcome differences.”

Tehran—After clear criticism of the human rights situation in Iran by the European Parliament, Tehran retaliates. “This declaration is worthless and deserves no attention,” says Iran’s chief justice, Sadeq Larijani, to officials in Tehran. “It demonstrates the arrogance of the West.” Additionally, he accuses the European Union of spreading promiscuity and homosexuality in Iran.

Washington—The planned appointment of Hamid Aboutalebi as Iran’s new UN ambassador has created an uproar. The Iranian diplomat is thought to have participated in the Iranian hostage crisis in 1979. On Thursday, the U.S. Congress unanimously passes a bill denying Aboutalebi a visa.

Vienna—As a reaction to a report of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the U.S. has again relaxed sanctions against Iran. A total of $450 million will soon be made available, according to a spokesperson from the U.S. Department of State. The IAEA announced that Iran had, up to now, honored the Geneva interim agreement of last November. The stocks of weapon-grade enriched uranium have been reduced, and the country has, in the meantime, diluted or converted to uranium oxide 75 per cent of its inventory. “Everything is going to plan,” said a diplomat.

Noshahr—In Iran a young man escapes execution by seconds. According to a report from the Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA), the condemned man already has the noose around his neck as the mother of the victim forgives him. He had been condemned to death because during an argument he stabbed the woman’s son to death in the city of Noshahr. After China, Iran is the country with the most executions in the world. In 2013, according to official information, 369 people were executed. Amnesty International, however, believes that there were at least a further 335 executions.

Tehran—Blocking the messaging app WhatsApp has triggered a dispute between the government and censorship authorities. “The government is firmly against the ban,” says Iran’s Communications Minister, Mahmoud Vaezi, to the state news agency IRNA. Previously, the head of the judiciary filtering committee, Abdolsamad Khorrambadi, was quoted as saying, “The reason for this is the adoption of WhatsApp by the Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg, who is an American Zionist.”

London—Journalist Masih Alinejad has created a Facebook page inviting Iranian women to post photos of themselves without a headscarf. The feedback is enormous, and within a couple days hundreds of photos are posted on the site, attracting thousands of likes. Alinejad lives in exile in London, having been forced to leave her country after exposing a corruption scandal.

Tehran—Many people demonstrate in front of the Ministry of the Interior in Tehran for “chastity and moral security.” They are protesting against any softening of the dress code regulations for women. According to official figures, four thousand men and women take part in the rally. Eyewitnesses speak of some five hundred demonstrators, many of whom are theology students.

In the weeks since I landed in Tehran, a lot has happened in Iran. European media, as usual, are concentrating on reports about nuclear energy disputes, the death penalty, and women’s rights. They are all valid topics, and it is important to write about them, but it’s not the whole picture. People who learn about the world from news programs tend to subconsciously categorize the images of extremes: the Africans starve, Afghanis carry out suicide bombings, Chinese plagiarize, and bearded Iranians tinker with their atom bomb. The daily grind is not mentioned, and even when everyday life is featured in reports about foreign lands, it is often in the form of romanticism—out with the modern and in with the traditional and old-fashioned. Who would present photos of shopping malls in Tehran or Shiraz that look almost exactly like their counterparts in Europe or North America? Readers and viewers easily forget that reality in every country is ten thousand times more diverse than what is shown.

IN THE LARGESTpublic square in the world that is completely enclosed by buildings and walls some urban sanitation workers are going through their morning exercises. They do aerobics to Eurodance music at club volumes. Somehow I had expected my first few minutes in Isfahan to be a more Oriental experience. The common name of the square is Naghsh-e Jahan, “Image of the World,” so I suppose that turbaned water-pipe smokers or swirling dervishes also wouldn’t really fit the bill. At precisely 5:45 AM the fountains are turned on, and forty-five minutes later the sun rises. Showtime.

At 1,800 feet by 500 feet, five times three soccer fields, it is framed by decorated two-tier arcades, mosque domes, palaces, and bazaar tunnels. It’s impossible not to be overwhelmed by the dimensions. I arrived so early because the night bus from Hamedan took less than seven hours to get here. So as not to annoy my host with an early-morning alarm call, I have to putter around a bit.

One of the cheekier actions of the Ayatollah Khomeini was renaming Isfahan’s architectural masterpiece “Imam Square.” The word “imam” referred to himself, although he had absolutely nothing to do with it, as it was laid out over four hundred years ago by Shah Abbas. Before 1979 the official name was Shah Square for a couple decades. But most of the inhabitants couldn’t care less about the ego trips of their leaders and still refer to the square as Naghsh-e Jahan.

Once again, I think it’s a pity that there are no cafés here to while away some time, but in a side street I manage to find a tea house with wooden tables and men inhaling energy for the day through hookahs. About a third of the guests are bearded, turbaned men with long cloaks who mingle among the other guests giving advice from the Quran for their problems.

To: Sofia Isfahan

Good morning, I arrived in Isfahan now, how are you? Do you have time to meet today?

From: Sofia Isfahan

Hi, let’s meet@ music school. I arranged a class for you.

Don’t hurry, but be there @ 10.30, not later

My host, Ahmad, lives twenty-five minutes by car north of the city center. Again, I call up a stranger, pass the phone to a cab driver, and gaze out of the window, curious about where he will drive me. Routine. A new day, a new apartment. Also routine. The excitement of always meeting new people is beginning to wear off.

Every long-term traveler knows the point when the usual “Where are you from/What’s your name/Where did you go” conversations with other backpackers get on your nerves, even if you are talking to a potentially incredibly interesting person.

Ahmad greets me in jogging pants, a quiet but cheerful type who runs a T-shirt store in the city. Before my arrival I only had e-mail contact with Sofia, who arranged accommodation with Ahmad. It seems to be a common practice because Iranian women are afraid of breaking the rules and endangering their reputations by having male guests.